Coyote

Of all the canids (dog family members) coyotes are probably the most widely persecuted.  Medium-sized, generalists in terms of habitat and food as well as being fairly tolerant humans, their relatively robust populations make them likely targets.  Coyotes are subject to poisoning, trapping, and shooting by hunters looking to bolster deer and elk populations by artificially increasing fawn and elk calf survival rates.  

 

Cascadia Wildlands opposes all so-called “coyote derbies” or other actions taken by citizens to conduct what amounts to non-selective, vigilante predator control.  We likewise oppose poison-based predator control programs on public lands because it is similarly non-selective in nature and frequently impacts non-target species and pets.  We are working for and looking forward to a time when coyotes are valued for their ecological role and managed in a scientifically-defensible manner by state and federal agencies.